Current issues of trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Eastern countries

On September 3, a significant event "ICC Russia - bridge between cultures and key to business success" took place in Vladivostok as part of the International Trade Day.

As part of the business program of the day, a session "Current issues of trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Eastern countries: barriers, prospects, opportunities" was organized.

The session was moderated by Dmitry Antonov, Senior Vice President, Director of External Relations and GR, GAP Resource.

The session gathered key experts: 

• Vinay Kumar, Ambassador of the Republic of India to the Russian Federation. 
• Zhou Liyun, Chairman of the Union of Chinese Entrepreneurs in Russia. 
• Evgeny Griva, Deputy Trade Representative of Russia in the Republic of India. 
• Olga Lisienko, Head of the Novosibirsk Branch of the Russian-Asian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RAUIE), became one of the session's speakers. 

Olga Alexandrovna outlined the problems and opportunities, prospects for cooperation in trade between Russia and countries in the Asia-Pacific region (APR): 

• The main barrier is payment difficulties. Sanctions-related restrictions and "intermediary schemes" through third countries pose risks for Chinese banks, complicating transactions, especially in the electronics sector. 
• A complete, secure payment system with an adequate number of instruments must be established. 
• The issue of container shortages is relevant. The ports and border infrastructure with China are unable to handle the load. Russia's internal transport infrastructure copes with such volume. 
• Logistics also requires attention. The system does not meet trade needs, slowing down trade growth. Nevertheless, in the first 7 months of 2024, trade turnover with China increased by 1.6%, and exports from Russia to China grew by 3.9%. 

• The queues of ships waiting for unloading have become a thing of the past. 
• The time goods spend in the port has been reduced by 15%, and terminal occupancy has decreased to 80-90%. The main issues with the trucking route "Zabaykalsk - Manchuria" were resolved after the launch of the electronic queue, and the railway has a significant reserve of 35-40 thousand tons. 
• The "One Belt, One Road" initiative has become a unique project with no equivalents in terms of scope of participation and cooperation scale.